Meet Barbara Maxwell
by Esm3rald
Summary: Barbara has a normal life until the day she wakes up in the 'Vampire Diaries' a few days before Elena's accident. She thinks she knows the story and that's the reason why she tries to stop the accident from happening and save the Gilberts. Some things aren't how she remembers them however like the fact that Elena is not the doppelganger; there is no doppelganger at all in fact.
1. Prologue

**REPOST! Though the prologue is pretty much the same, I changed some things about this story and therefore I felt the need to post this again. I was unsure what to do about certain things but I now I have pretty much everything planned for the first two seasons so you can expect a Chapter 1 pretty soon (probably the end of next week).**

 **In this story, someone from our world wakes up in the Vampire Diaries, and yes, this is not so original or different. What is different from usual is the fact that, while Elena is still in the story, she's not the doppelganger (Elena is Grayson and Miranda's actual daughter in this story).**

 **In fact there won't be any doppelgangers in this story. Katherine won't be the same Katherine as the show but she will be much more similar to the one from the books. There will still be a curse and Klaus wanting to break it but 'doppelganger blood' won't be the main ingredient.**

 **The OC I created will, in a way, replace Vicki Donovan, in the sense that instead of Vicki, Matt's sister will be this OC which is called Barbara Maxwell. This OC will look a lot like the Elena Gilbert from the books (blonde hair, blue/violet eyes), however the Katherine in this story won't look like her either (though there may be a certain familial resemblance between them but that's all I'm going to reveal). The Maxwell family is, in this story, one of the founding families.**

 **Like I said, there is no doppelganger in this story. The people who read the books will find certain similarities between this story and the book series though I will broadly follow the TV show. Some things are going to be AU but the main plot will stay the same as the one from the show (at least the first two seasons then I don't know yet).**

 ** **BTW, I imagine Barbara as Barbara Palvin but with blond hair and blue-violet eyes though curvier in the chest department (basically with Barbara Palvin's body but with much bigger breasts - like 30J/30JJ) and Meredith as Bella Thorne. The OC Barbara will basically be like a Real Life Barbie (at least physically because her personality will be blunt, snarky and sarcastic).****

 **Hope you like this idea and that you'll follow my story!**

 **Prologue**

 **The Strangest Dream**

She wakes up in a hospital with a terrible headache and surrounded by strangers that somehow she still recognizes – and her friend Meredith, who somehow has copper hair now?

"Oh my god, Barbie you're awake!" She says with enthusiasm, her new glossy hair shining in the morning sunlight.

"Hey Barbs! Glad you're awake!" A familiar blond boy with baby blue eyes says with a smile at her.

"Meredith? What happened? And what happened to your hair?" Barbara asks her, confused.

Meredith looks alternatively at Barbara and then at her hair like she has no idea what Barbara is talking about. "What do you mean?"

"Well, it's red." Barbara explains. She also notices that her friend looks better – it's not only her hair that is different. Her skin is fair and flawless, her lips plumper, her breasts bigger.

"And?" Meredith looks even more confused, not understanding what Barbara means.

Barbara decides that she's too tired to explain and turns towards the man wearing a white coat.

The doctor – a vaguely familiar face with dark hair, olive skin and very dark eyes – checks her eyes with a light and measures her blood pressure and her heartbeat. Then, with a reassuring smile he says: "Everything looks fine Barbie. You just got hit really hard. You'll be right as new in no time."

Barbara looks at the doctor, still confused, then her gaze once again shifts to the blond boy. It is mostly because of him that she realizes she must still be dreaming. That would explain the changes in her best friend's appearance as well. Why Zach Roerig though? Why not Ian Somerhalder or Joseph Morgan? Sure he's hot, but definitely not her first choice if it's about Vampire Diaries actors.

Barbara nods at the doctor distractedly anyway and then immediately regrets it, feeling her skull pulsating with pain. They call her 'Barbie' - nobody has called her that since she was 10, not even her grandma that still calls her 'baba' though she's 17 years old.

They ask her questions she has no answer to – or rather she has answers that are somehow wrong or not exactly right – and they all assume worried faces but, then, they chalk it up to the volley ball she got hit with and the fact that the right side of her head had met the hard gym bleachers she had been sitting in at the time. Turns out she has lost a lot of blood and lost consciousness very quickly.

The doctor tells her they put stitches to close the wound but she needs to stay in the hospital to make sure she doesn't have a concussion. Then, with a last smile, he leaves her with Meredith and Zach.

"Meredith?"

"Hum?" Her friend asks, her eyes shifting towards the actor with a coy look.

"Why is he here?" Barbara asks in a whisper.

"Who?" Meredith asks, turning her attention towards Barbara. Zach looks at her as well, half-offended, half-worried.

"Him." She points.

"Your brother? Why wouldn't he be?"

"Come on, Barbs. You can't still be angry at me, can you?" Zach asks, exasperated.

"My brother? Angry at you? What?" Barbara asks with an I-have-no-idea-what-you're-talking-about tone.

"Okay, fine. I shouldn't have ditched you this morning but Elena needed a ride so..."

"Elena?" Barbara turns towards Meredith but she seems perfectly at ease with the situation. "Wait...Matt?"

"Yeah?" Zach – who is actually Matt – answers.

Barbara groans, now sure she's in a dream, though why she should be dreaming about Matt Donovan being her brother, she doesn't know. And wait, does that make her Vicki Donovan? But no, everyone is still calling her Barbara - or Barbie really -. Seriously, why would she be dreaming about something like this? Sure, she likes 'The Vampire Diaries' well enough – or she did when it was still on air – but why would she dream of being Matt's sister of all people? That doesn't make any sense.

She ignores these stupid questions and tries to remember what happened.

Barbara does remember the fact that she was in the gym, practicing for the next game that would be held in less than three weeks, though she doesn't remember getting hit with a volley ball. It is possible, she supposes.

She was sitting down with Meredith, taking a break from the gruesome training their coach was submitting them to. She had her back towards the gym floor and her teammates. Maybe one of them had thought it would be funny to hit her with a ball to get her to come down and start training again. Maybe it had been an accident. She feels too crappy to ask.

She was tired and aching all over. Was it normal to feel like this in a dream?

"Barbs, hey, are you listening to me?" Matt asks her with a concerned frown. "I said I called Mom but you know how she is. She's always so busy with work, I don't know when she'll be back."

"Yeah, sure." She answers absentmindedly, and then realizes what Matt said. "Mom as in...Kelly Donovan?"

Matt looks at her very worried now. "Yes? Though she's been Kelly Maxwell for 18 years. Are you sure you're okay? You're acting weird. Maybe I should call Doctor Gilbert back."

"Doctor Gilbert? Grayson Gilbert?" 'What the hell?' she thinks to herself. "Elena's father?"

"Yes. Of course, who else?" Meredith asks her this time.

"And you don't find anything weird with all this? Nothing at all?"

"The only thing weird is how you're acting. Maybe you do have a concussion after all."

"Maybe I do." Barbara answers, completely bewildered about the situation.

"Huh, I swear I'm going to wring Mindi's little neck." Meredith says with an angry look. "She was the one who hit you with a ball, you know? I heard the principal wants to suspend her for a few days though..." She finishes with a grin.

"Mindi Rogers?" At Meredith's confirmation, Barbara nods; finally something that makes sense. So it hadn't been an accident after all. That girl had it in for her since their first day of freshman year. Barbara knows she's simply jealous of her but it's still annoying. Mindi is like a pestering fly that she can't get rid of.

"I called Sheriff Forbes as well." Matt says then. "You know, just in case you want to press charges for assault. She'll come as soon as she can to hear your statement. She said she was very busy today."

"I don't see what exactly is that keeps her so busy." Meredith adds. "I mean, we're in Mystic Falls after all."

"And nothing bad ever happens in Mystic Falls." Matt finishes, obviously repeating someone else's words – probably Elena's.

Barbara grins at that. "The Salvatore brothers haven't shown up yet, hum?" She asks with a smile.

The both of them look at her with matching confused faces. "Who?"

"Never mind." Barbara replies, though she's surprised Meredith doesn't know what she's talking about. She feels she's getting sleepy though how can she be getting sleepy when she is already asleep is a mystery to her. She just hopes her next dream would be more pleasant – and less boring. She could have at least dreamt of Carisle Cullen since she's in a hospital, or Derek Shepherd. Where were the hot guys when you needed them? Well, she supposes Matt was hot, but since he was her brother in this dream...

"Hey, don't fall asleep!" Matt orders her. "Doctor Gilbert says you can't sleep until tonight."

"Huh..." Barbara grumbles. "But I'm so tired."

"I know Barbs but you need to stay awake."

Grayson Gilbert returns in that moment and Matt tells him immediately that she's having some problems remembering things, asking strange questions etc.

"Well, I guess after such a blow to the head, some confusion and even some memory loss are normal. The scan didn't show any damage to the brain however so if such symptoms occur, they will be temporary, don't worry about it." Matt nods at that, relieved.

"How are you feeling? Do you have nausea, dizziness...?"

Barbara is about to shake her head when she remembers what happened the last time she did that. She answers verbally instead. "No. Just a little headache."

"Good, that's good. I think we can rule out concussion then. To be safe however, you'll need to stay awake for the rest of the day. Tonight we'll wake you every two hours and then, tomorrow, if you're feeling better, you'll get to go home. Sounds good?"

"Going home would be great." Barbara answers, thinking that she's getting tired of this strange dream. The doctor smiles at her – he does that a lot – and then leaves her with Meredith and Matt Donovan – or is Maxwell after all?

She's finding it all very strange: the realism of it all, the normalness of it. Weren't dreams supposed to be chaotic and confused? Jumping from one place to another without reason or logic?

Barbara decides not think too much about it at the moment. She's sure this strange dream would end sooner or later. Right now, she needs to go to the bathroom. And why is she dreaming of needing the bathroom anyway? Does that mean that if she dreams of using the toilet, would she actually pee in real life as well? Would she wake up with a wet bed like she did as a child? Can you imagine what a humiliating experience that would be? But maybe if she waits, the desperate need to pee would actually serve to wake her up. Maybe she should wait.

She listens to Matt and Meredith talking about their day at school – some names were familiar to her because they were people she knew from her school, others were familiar because they were characters from 'the vampire diaries' like Tyler, Elena, Bonnie, Caroline. She hums at regular intervals but she's only half-paying attention. Her need to pee is becoming unbearable. Finally, after twenty minutes she just can't resist anymore and, being done caring about what would happen, she asks Meredith to accompany her to the bathroom.

She relieves herself quickly and still there's no sign of her waking up. She goes to wash her hands and has the shock of her life.

She doesn't look like herself. Well, she does, but she does not.

The shape of her face, her nose or mouth, have not changed, but her eyes...her eyes were grey that morning. Now they have two colors, the upper part is lapis lazuli blue and the lower part is violet. Her hair were chestnut brown, now they are blonde, like spun gold. Her skin, once golden tanned, is now porcelain white and translucent, like alabaster.

Even her body is slightly different than it was. She always did have rather wide hips – though she was slender and athletic – but now, with a narrower waist than before and much bigger breasts, she has a perfect hourglass figure.

She has always been tall and beautiful – her mother's Hungarian genes are to thank for that – and playing varsity volleyball at school has definitely help in shaping her body in the right way but now, now she basically look like a real life Barbie.

In fact, she looks like she imagines the Elena Gilbert from the books would look like. What the hell is going on?


	2. Interlude

**Here it is, as promised! This is just an interlude, the next chapter will actually dive fully into the story - we'll probably get to meet the Salvatore brothers for the first time as well, or at least Barbara will. Hope you like this chapter, tell me what you think!**

 **Interlude**

The next time Barbara wakes up in the same hospital room as before she's surrounded by get-well-cards, balloons and teddy bears. She's starting to realize that maybe she isn't dreaming after all.

Matt is sleeping in the chair near her bed, the chair he has spent all night in. She vaguely remembers all the times she was woken up during the night until the doctors finally let her sleep in the early hours of the morning. The sunlight pouring from the window glass lets her know that it's probably already afternoon.

She still has no idea what the hell is going on. There is no rational explanation as to why she's there, in this fictional world with fictional characters like Matt who thinks she's his sister. And yet, there are people like Meredith or Mindy, who belong to the real world, _her_ world. How is it possible? Has her entire world collided and blended together with that of the Vampire Diaries? Even in her head, it sounds completely crazy.

Maybe she _is_ crazy. Maybe that blow to the head really scrambled her brain or something. Maybe she has gone nuts and she doesn't know it.

Her musings are interrupted by the door opening. Barbara immediately recognizes the dark-haired woman who enters the room. It's Kelly Donovan – or rather, Kelly Maxwell. She looks different from the rather trashy mess from the TV show. This woman dresses elegantly, her clothes obviously expensive, her hair perfectly coiffed.

"Oh, darling. You're awake!" Kelly says to her, red lips forming a gentle smile. "I was so worried! I'm sorry I couldn't come sooner but they needed me at the resort. You'll think owning the place would mean that I could come and go as I want but no…it seemed they can't do anything right without me."

Barbara smiles back, feeling awkward. She has no idea what Kelly is talking about. Fortunately, before the silence can become noticeable, Matt wakes up.

"Mom, hey!" He says, rubbing his left eye with the back of a hand, probably as a way to fight off the slumber.

"Matt, honey! Why don't you go take a coffee? I'll stay here with your sister. You look exhausted."

Matt nods and after kissing Barbara on the forehead in a very brotherly gesture, he leaves the room.

"Oh, look at you, baby. That bandage on your head really doesn't look good on you. I heard the doctors had to shaved some of your hair to apply the stitches."

"They did?" Barbara asks with a grimace.

"Oh, don't worry. We'll find a way to cover it up before they let you leave the hospital. Fortunately you didn't get hit on the forehead. Such a wound would certainly scar and that would be a crime. Can you imagine your perfect face ruined forever by the actions of a jealous classmate? Do you know that I talked to her parents? They had the courage to say that it was an accident. Like anyone would believe that."

Barbara smiles an uncomfortable smile and says, "Yeah, well. You know Mindy. I should have figured she was going to do something like that sooner or later. I bet she was hoping I would get a serious injury and therefore not be allowed to play on the next match."

"Well, don't worry about that. Grayson gave you the all clear. You can return to play in two days time, as long as you don't overdo it. He will talk to the coach himself though I don't think there'll be any need."

"Good." Barbara says before noticing once again the room full of bouquet of flowers, stuffed animals and even chocolate boxes. "What is all this, by the way?"

Kelly waves a hand around. "Oh, just some things from your friends, teammates, and of course other schoolmates, mostly your many admirers. Except for this…" She took a gift-wrapped box from the pile on the table and put it on Barbara's lap. "This one is from me."

Barbara gives her a questioning look but opens the box. Inside she finds a beautiful, sleeveless skater dress with a sort of black corset with a deep v-neck and a hollowed-out back and a pale pink, chiffon pleated skirt. It's both elegant and sexy. It's also obvious that it is very expensive.

"Thank you." Barbara mutters, not knowing what to say.

"You're welcome. I saw it on a shop window and immediately thought of you."

"Did Doctor Gilbert tell you when I can go home?" Barbara asks then.

"This evening, just after dinner. In fact, I have to leave now but I'll be back in time to pick you up from the hospital. Meredith should come by soon and even if Matt decide to return home for a little while, you won't be alone."

Barbara nods. "All right. Sounds good." It really doesn't. Sure, she would be happy to leave the hospital but the home Barbara is thinking about and the one Kelly means are two very different things. Forget the how, _why_ is she here? There must be a reason, right? Is she missing something?

"I have to go now, baby." Kelly says then, kissing her on the cheek. "I'll see you soon though, hum?"

"Yeah." Barbara nods and watches her go, the smell of her Chanel perfume following in her wake.

A few minutes later, Matt returns, still looking completely exhausted. Barbara convinces him to go home and rest and finally, she's alone.

Barbara sighs at the white ceiling but before she can even start to contemplate her situation, the door opens once again and Meredith comes in.

"Hey, B!" Meredith says cheerfully, her white teeth as shiny as her clear lip-gloss.

"Hey!" Barbara says back and though she tries to master up at least half of Meredith's enthusiasm, she isn't really successful.

"What's up? You know you're going to be out of here soon, right?"

"Yeah, I know."

"Then, what's wrong?" Meredith's smile turns into a frown.

Barbara is just about to tell her everything but then thinks better of it. She doesn't want the only familiar, friendly face here to think her crazy. "Can I tell you something?" She asks instead.

"Sure. Anything."

"I didn't say anything to Matt and K-Mom, because I didn't want them to feel bad but…there's something wrong with my memory. In fact, I don't remember much."

Meredith gasps. "Maybe we should tell Doctor Gilbert."

Barbara shakes her head immediately. "No!" She almost screams but then in a quieter voice she continues, "You heard what he said, there's nothing wrong with me. I'm sure my memories will come back in time but for now, can you fill me in on everything I don't remember?"

"Sure. But first, what do you remember?"

"Well, I remember you. And the fact that Matt is my brother and Kelly is my mother and…hum, Peter Maxwell is my father?" The last sentence turned out to be a question but Meredith nodded in confirmation so at least that was right. "And I remember who Elena, Bonnie and Caroline are. And Tyler. And I remember who their parents are. I remember Mindy…unfortunately. But, that's it."

"Wow. So, okay…do you remember that your father is…hum…gone?"

"Well, he left my mother when Matt was still in her belly, right?"

Meredith frowns. "Hum, he left in the sense that he died."

Barbara widens her eyes. "Really?"

"This is worse than I thought. Okay, let's start from the beginning. Your father came from one of the Founding Families. You remember that, at least?"

"I guess? Gilbert, Fell, Forbes, Lockwood, Salvatore and…Maxwell?"

"Yup. Elena is from one. Caroline is from one. You and Matt are from one. Tyler is from one. And me, of course."

"You?"

"Yeah, my name is Meredith Fell, remember?"

"Right." Barbara is becoming more and more confused. There was a Meredith Fell in the show but it's definitely not her friend. She decides to ignore this information for now and allow Meredith to continue.

"Okay so, the founding families are kind of like royalty in this town. Your father and mother started dating when they were still in High School but your paternal grandparents thought that Kelly wasn't good enough for their son so that caused a lot of tension between them. Kelly came from a rather poor family so…Anyway, they broke up and went back together many times. Your mother has always been smart though and had a knack for business. She went to business school at Whitmore and was really good at it too. She would have probably graduated at the top of her class if it weren't for the fact that…well, she became pregnant with you. So Kelly and Peter got married and Kelly left school. Not even one month after you were born, Kelly fell pregnant again, with Matt. And that's when your father got sick. Brain tumor."

Barbara feels a twinge of sadness at that, even if it doesn't make sense since these people aren't really her parents. "Your father died a month before your brother was born. As you can imagine, it wasn't easy for Kelly but fortunately your father made sure to provide for you even after he was gone. With the insurance money Kelly got for his husband's death – 10 million dollars – she renovated the farm that belonged to her family a few miles out of town and turned it into a luxurious destination spa. In less than ten years she had tripled her initial starting sum and became one of the richest people in town, if not the richest."

"Wow."

"Yup. She also rebuilt the family manor, the original one from the 1800's that belonged to the Maxwells. She basically said fuck you to every person in this town who had ever thought badly of her. Your mom's awesome." Meredith finishes with enthusiasm.

"Sure sounds like it." Barbara comments, taken aback by this flow of information, completely different from the story she knew.

"Of course, there's always a downside to the story." Meredith continues and Barbara doesn't need for her to finish to figure out what the downside is.

"My mom is almost never home because she's always so busy with work."

Meredith nods.

"Let me guess, the dress she bought me…" Barbara points to the box still on her lap, "That's a normal occurrence, isn't it?"

Meredith nods again. "Yeah. I guess it's her way to show that she loves you. She does the same with Matt. She buys you two expensive things, hoping it would make up for the fact that she's absent most of the time. I don't remember a time she showed up to one of your games, either of you." At Barbara's dark look she adds quickly, "Hey, she loves you, really. And there's also the fact that she's trying to give you everything that she didn't have in her own youth. And also a way to make sure that you or your brother will never feel unaccepted by the 'elite' of the town like she was, you know?"

Barbara nods, though she's feeling completely disconnected with all of this. And how can it not be so? This isn't her life after all, not really.

"That, of course, put a lot of pressure on you and your brother to always be perfect. That really sucks and you complained about it so many times, I lost count but, luckily, you have awesome friends like me who make things better for you." Meredith finishes with a wide smile.

Barbara grins at her. Meredith, at least, is the same as always, except for the slight differences in her appearance.

"So, stupid question but…all these gifts…does it mean I'm popular at school or something?"

Meredith snorts. "Popular is an euphemism. The boys at school practically worship you. The fact that you're still a virgin make them want you even more, like you're some kind of grand prize that they hope to win. Of course, not one of them really knows you. They only want you because you're drop dead gorgeous, the most beautiful girl at school in fact. The only one who comes close is Elena Gilbert but, of course, she's with your brother so totally unavailable. They are, like, the IT couple of Mystic Falls High. She's the beautiful, popular, cheerleader; he's the handsome, just as popular, quarterback of the football team."

Barbara nods. "Right. And, is there some boyfriend that I have to know about?"

"Well, not a boyfriend exactly. You're kind of going out with Tyler. He pursued you all year and, you finally accepted to go out on a date with him, like two weeks ago. You went out on another two dates after that but that's it. I think he's kind of expecting for you two to bring things to the next level but you weren't really sure about that. You're afraid Tyler isn't really serious about you. That he's just like the others. He just wants to say that he got to fuck the most beautiful girl at school, the one no one else has ever had. You know, to boost his popularity."

Barbara grimaces in disgust. Why, oh why, wasn't she born a lesbian? Dating a girl would be so much easier. Boys were pigs. What was that Audrey Hepburn said in _Breakfast at Tiffany's_? That all men are rats or super-rats? She was certainly right. Though she did find her Paul Varjak, a man who genuinely loved her so maybe not all hope was lost.

"Well, he certainly didn't come to the hospital to see me so it doesn't look like his interest is genuine."

"Well, I think he did send you something though." She points to the big, white, teddy bear with a big heart on its belly. "And anyway, Doctor Gilbert thought it would be better if not too many people were allowed to see you, you know, to not to overwhelm you. So they basically restricted the list of people allowed to visit to me, your brother and your mother. Just wait until you get home though, you'll have a queue in front of your door of people eager to see how you are doing."

Barbara groans. "Huh. Please, no. I don't really want to see anyone except maybe Elena, Bonnie and Caroline." Though probably not because of the reasons Meredith thinks.

Meredith looks at her strangely. "Why them? We're not exactly close with them, you know? I mean, sure, Elena is your brother's girlfriend but you never did approve of her."

"We aren't and I didn't? Really, why?"

Meredith shrugs. "Well, Elena and her friends are cheerleaders so, you know, different circle of friends. I mean sure, we're friendly towards each other – mostly because we always meet each other during the Founding Families functions – but we're not close. And you never approved of Elena because you always thought she didn't feel as strongly for your brother as Matt feels for her. You always thought that she was going to break his hearth sooner or later."

Barbara nods. That makes complete sense because Elena _is_ going to break his heart and rather soon, if some things are still the same.

"So, any other questions?" Meredith asks.

"I don't think so, at least for the moment." Barbara replies.

Soon some nurse brings her dinner and Barbara realizes that she's actually starving. She eats with gusto even if hospital food is not exactly amazing. After dinner, like she promised, Kelly comes to the hospital to pick her up. She and Meredith helps her shower, get dressed – in the dress Kelly gave her with some high heeled sandals she brought from home together with clean underwear – put some make up on her face and adjusted her hair in a way that covered the bandage on the left side of her head, an awful white rectangular that stands out like a sore thumb.

Barbara looks at herself in the mirror and snorts to herself. No wonder they all call her 'Barbie'. She really does look like one – with really big breasts. With the v-neck dress she's wearing is even more evident. The boys at school probably consider her their personal wet dream come true. Huh, she grimaces again. She's starting to wonder if maybe she didn't actually die for that blow to the head and now whoever sent her here turned her into some kind of Mary-Sue. She sure hopes, after all this mess, that she would at least be able to meet Damon. What would be the point in being here, otherwise?


End file.
